On Saturday, March 14, 2020, the City of Winnipeg announced that effective Monday March 16th all city owned libraries, pools and leisure centres will be closed until further notice.
Officials have also suspended Leisure Guide programming until further notice. Registration for the Spring/Summer Leisure Guide programs that was planned for Tuesday March 17 has been postponed until further notice.
An enhanced cleaning program has been instituted on Winnipeg Transit. High-touch areas will receive additional cleaning procedures using ES65H disinfectant. Additional equipment has been purchased to sanitize buses.
City officials are also requesting anyone with flu-like symptoms to not enter city facilities at this time.
Provincial public health officials are asking all health-care providers to cancel or postpone all non-essential travel outside Manitoba. Those who do travel have been told they should be prepared to self-isolate for 14-days upon their return if they choose to travel internationally, including to the United States.
The province also noted that the three presumptive cases of COVID-19 announced earlier in the week have now been confirmed bringing the total number of confirmed cases to four.
Public health officials say that testing for COVID-19 has increased and more than 500 tests are being conducted each day. Patients testing positive will be contacted by public health immediately. It takes between 24-48 hours for tests to be completed and results known.
As of Sunday March 15, 2020 Health Science Centre will begin to restrict access points to the hospital campus to ensure proper screening of visitors arriving at the facility. Visitors at all health-care facilities may be asked direct questions about their symptoms, contacts and travel history as they arrive.
© News4.ca 2020
